Inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care

ABSTRACT

An inclinable bed to promote health in which a part or the whole of a patient&#39;&#39;s body is given vibrations by a transversely moving plate provided on a bed body, a transversely moving stand at the rear of the bed body and a T-shaped longitudinally moving rod at the front of the bed body. The bed can be inclined to any desired angle and stopped therein by a lifting mechanism having screw rods, a motor to rotate the screw rod, nuts which are engaged to the screw rods and connecting rods, one end of which is connected to the nuts and the other end of which is connected to the bed body.

United States Patent Agatani 1 May 27, 1975 [541 INCLINABLE BED ADAPTED FOR USE TO 3,589,358 6/1971 Megal 128/7] MEDICAL CARE 3,608,102 9/1971 Goodman 5/63 (76] Inventor: Katsuzo Agatani, 1-3, 3-chome. Primar E y xammer-Lawrence W. Trapp glii Tokushlma'sh Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack [22] Filed: Aug. 27, 1973 [57 ABSTRACT [52] U.S. Cl 128/71; 128/33 [51] Int. Cl. A6" 5/00 [58] Field of Search 128/71, 33, 24 R. 70; 5/62, 63; 297/330 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,658,736 2/1928 Ortmeier H 5/63 X 2,715,901 8/1955 Blake 128/33 3,465,373 9/1969 Wilson 5/63 3,581,319 6/1971 Stanley et a1. 5/63 An inclinable bed to promote health in which a part or the whole of a patient's body is given vibrations by a transversely moving plate provided on a bed body, a transversely moving stand at the rear of the bed body and a T-shaped longitudinally moving rod at the front of the bed body. The bed can be inclined to any desired angle and stopped therein by a lifting mechanism having screw rods, a motor to rotate the screw rod. nuts which are engaged to the screw rods and connecting rods, one end of which is connected to the nuts and the other end of which is connected to the bed body.

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INCLINABLE BED ADAPTED FOR USE TO MEDICAL CARE This invention relates to an inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care and also applicable as a sleeping bed which functions as a safeguard against disease and to promote health by giving vibrations to a part or the whole of a human body, thereby stimulating the circulation of blood.

Conventionally, in the art of a bed for medical care, inclinable beds having various types of lifting mechanisms have been provided. The utmost safety is required for the bed adapted for use to medical care from its manner of use since a bed body is inclined with a patient thereon. If the bed body should fall down from the inclined position, a fatal wound could be given to the patient on the bed. The bed for medical care, however, is usually provided with a lot of devices to give vibrations to a human body, weighing up to, say, about I50 kg, In addition to this, in the case where a stopper is employed for securing the bed body in a desired inclined position, the stopper is given enormous force by the devices provided to give vibrations to a human body whereby the bed body has a dangerous possibility of falling by failure of the stopper. The bed for medical care of this type is preferably handy for carrying about and installable in a narrow space since the bed is used principally at a home. It is further preferable that the height of the bed body, under the lowered conditions, is made low enough for a patient to climb on and off the bed body.

Conventionally, beds for medical care having various constructions have been employed to attain the above mentioned aims. For instance, a bed for medical care has been provided in which one end of the bed body is pivotally connected to a base, to the other end is connected a wire and a motor takes up said wire. This is achieved by hanging the wire on a roller at the top of a pole fixed to the bed vertically, whereby the bed body is inclined. Such bed for medical care is generally appreciated for its usefulness. However, the bed has defects in which the stop device to stop the bed body at a desired position cannot have sufficient safety and also the total length of the bed cannot be made low.

The inclinable bed for medical care in this invention is constructed in such a manner that one end of the inclinable bed body is pivotally connected to a base, a connecting rod is connected to a nut which is engaged to a screw rod rotatively supported by the base in the transverse direction thereto and to a desired portion of the bed body, and said screw rod is then rotated back and forth by a motor which makes the bed body move up and down through said connecting rod.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide an inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care and having the utmost stability and safety, which does not require a stopper to stop a bed body at a position after said bed body is lifted to a desired angle.

It is another object of this invention to provide an inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care which is exceedingly small in size and does not require large area for installation.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care which is very light in weight and is mechanically simple, and inexpensive to manufacture.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide an inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care, the height of the bed body of which is low enough for a patient to climb on and off the bed.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide an inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care which is also applicable as a sleeping bed.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description referring to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are a plan view and a side elevation, respectively, of an inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating only a bed body with the outer equipment taken away;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation illustrating a clutch means of a crankshaft, for use in the subject invention;

FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating a base and the members attached to said base;

FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating the nut means of FIG. 5 is an enlarged scale; and

FIG. 7 through FIG. II are side elevations illustrating, respectively, a manner of use of the inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care. specification,

Referring to the drawings, an inclinable bed II adapted for use to medical care is shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. The inclinable bed consists of a base 12, a bed body 13, the rear end of which is pivotally connected to one side of said base, and a lifting mechanism which enables the bed body 13 to incline. In this specificatin, the term rear" means the side of the base to which the bed body is pivotally connected and the term front" means the opposite side thereof.

The base 12 is formed in an rectangle identical to the bed body 13 so that said base can make the bed body 13 inclined with a patient thereon having such a dimension and mechanical strength as to have sufficient stability against force produced by vibrating a patient.

The bed body 13 shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a hanging means 14 in the front portion thereof, a footmoving means 15 in the rear portion thereof and on the upper surface thereof a plate 16 which is moved transversely to the bed to vibrate the patients entire body in the transverse direction.

The hanging means 14 consists of a speed change motor 17, a crankshaft 18, a link rod 19, a T-shaped rod 20 which moves in a longitudinal direction relative to the bed and a T-shaped traction rod 21.

The speed change motor 17 is mounted at the front ofa frame 22 of the bed body 13 making the axis of rotation of said motor transverse yet horizontal to the bed. The crankshaft 18 is rotatively connected to the frame 22 by two bearings 23, 24 forwardly of the speed change motor 17 with the axis thereof parallel to said axis of rotation of said speed change motor I7. The crankshaft 18 per se is rotated in a given direction by said speed change motor 17, through a V belt 26 which is hung on a pulley 25 provided between the two bearings 23, 24 while a crank pin 27 is provided at one side of said crankshaft I8. A link rod 19 is, at one end thereof, connected to said crank pin 27 and, at the other end thereof, connected to an end of a rolling arm 30 which is grasped by two springs 28, 29 and projects horizontally from the T-shaped longitudinally moving rod 20. The T-shaped longitudinally moving rod 20 is rotatively supported by bearings fixed to the frame; one

of which bearings is provided at the lowest end of said rod and the other at a position slightly above the former, so that the rod may become vertical to the surface of the bed body 13. To a horizontal rod 31 at the top of said rod is engaged a pair of foot rests 32, upon each of which a foot of a patient is placed. The foot rests are inclined about 45 to the rod 20. The rod 31 further has at each end thereof a metal member 33 for connecting a rolling rope for traction to said ends of the rod 31. The operation of the hanging means having the aforementioned construction is such that the crankshaft 18 is rotated by the speed change motor 17 through the V belt 26, and link rod 19 is then reciprocally moved by a crank pin 27 provided at the end of said crankshaft 18, whereby the rolling arm 30 of the T-shaped longitudinally moving rod 20 connected to said link rod 19 is vibrated within predetermined angles, thereby rotating said longitudinally moving rod 20.

The foot-moving means 15 consists ofa speed change motor 34, reduction pullies 35, 36, a crankshaft 37, a link rod 38, a transversely moving stand 39 and a foot support 40. The speed change motor 34 is mounted at the rear portion of the bed body 13 so that the axis of rotation thereof may be longitudinal yet horizontal to the bed body 13. The speed change motor 34 has usually low starting torque when it rotates at low speed, therefore in the case where higher starting torque is re' quired, a motor of fixed speed is employed as a motor and a variable speed gear, provided between said motor and the reduction pulley 35, is adapted to change the rate of rotation of the crankshaft 37. The same holds true for the speed change motor 17 which drives the above described hanging menas 14. The motor 34 adapted to the foot-moving means 15, however, serves also as a power source of the transversely moving plate 16 while the motor 17 for the hanging means only gives vibration to a part of the patients body. Consequently, stronger starting torque is required for the speed change motor 34. One of the reduction pulleys 35, 36, is larger than the other, and they rotate the crankshaft 37 at a further reduced rate of rotation relative to the speed change motor 34. The pulleys 35, 36 are supported by a bearing 41 fixed to the frame 22 of the bed body 13 so that the two pulleys may rotate conformably, where the larger pulley 35 is connected to a pulley 43 of the speed change motor 34 through a V belt 42 and the smaller pulley 36 is connected to a crankshaft 37 through a V belt 44. The crankshaft 37 is supported by a pair of bearings 45, 46 fixed to the frame 22 so that the axis of said crankshaft 37 is parallel to the axis of rotation of the speed change motor 34. A pulley 47, which is rotated by the smaller reduction pulley 36 by means of the V belt 44, is fixed to the crankshaft 37. The crankshaft 37 also has a crank pin 48 at the rear end thereof. Link rod 38 is connected at one end to the crank pin 48 of the crankshaft 37 through a bearing and at the other end connected to the transversely moving stand 39 by means of a ball joint 49. The transversely moving stand 39 has a roller 50, respectively at each of four sides thereof so that said stand 39 can reciprocally move in the transverse yet horizontal direction of the frame 22 of the bed body 13. The transversely moving stand 39 can move reciprocally in the transverse yet horizontal direction to the bed more smoothly with vibration when said rollers 50 are provided to roll over a rail 51 fixed on the upper surface of the frame 22. The foot support 40 is secured to the center of said transversely moving stand 39, vertically thereto. The foot support 40 is formed generally in T shape so that foot can be stably supported thereon con dition. The height of the stand 39 is preferably about 15 cm. The upper surface of said stand 39 is, in order to allow the foot to rest comfortably thereon, made preferably of soft materials such as urethane foam with skin or plastic sheet covered therover.

The action of the foot-moving means 15 having the above mentioned construction is described hereinafter.

The rotation of the speed change motor 34 is transmitted to the reduction pulleys 35, 36 through the V belt 42 and the rotation of said reduction pulleys 35, 36 is transmitted to the crankshaft 37 by means of the pulley 47. The rotation of the crankshaft 37 rotates a crank pin 48, whereby the transversely moving plate 39 is moved reciprocally in the transverse direction. The plate 39 is connected to the link rod 38 through a ball joint 49 thereby reciprocally vibrating a foot support 40 in a horizontal yet transverse direction.

The transversely moving means for vibrating the transversely moving plate 16 is provided with a crankshaft 53 which is rotated by the crankshaft 37 of the foot-moving means 15 through a link rod 55. One end of the link rod 55 is connected to a crank pin 54 of the crankshaft 53 and a frame 65 of the transversely moving plate is connected to the other end of said link rod 55 through a ball joint 56.

The crankshaft 53 is supported by a bearing fixed to the frame 22 so that said shaft 53 may be aligned with the crankshaft 37 which is rotated by the smaller reduction pulley 36 through a V belt 44 while the crankshaft 53 is connected to the crankshaft 37 by clutch 52.

The construction of the clutch 52 is detailed in FIG. 4.

To the crankshaft 37 is firmly fixed a flange 58 of the clutch having a finger 57 at one end of said shaft 37. The crankshaft 53 incorporates a slide flange 59 at one end thereof which end faces said end of the crankshaft 37 so that said slide flange 59 can move on said shaft 53 by means of a sliding key. The slide flange 59 has a ring groove 60 to which groove is fitted, with a slight spaced relationship thereto, a slide ring 61 which operates an intermittent mechanism. A wire 63 which is connected to an operation lever 62 arranged in the front portion of the bed body 13 (FIG. 2), is wound around the top end of the slide ring 61 and said wire 63 is continuously biased against the lever 62 by a spring 64 so that tension is applied to said wire 63.

When the operation lever 62 is pulled against the spring, the slide ring 61 is pulled forward by said wire 63, whereby said slide ring 61 leaves the fixed flange 58 of the clutch and the crankshaft 53 is then separated from the crankshaft 37.

The crankshaft 53 further has a crank pin 54 in the end opposite to the clutch 52. To said crank pin 54 is rotatively connected to one end of the link rod 55.

The transversely moving plate 16 is provided with a frame 65, six rollers 66 and a surface sheet 67. The frame 65 is made a little smaller in size than the bed body 13 and said frame 65 is designed so that it may vibrate reciprocally in the horizontal yet transverse direction while the six rollers 66 which are provided at the front, the rear and the center of said frame 65 are rolled over a rail 68 on the frame 22 of the bed body 13. The surface sheet 67 is made of thin urethane foam and the like having more or less resilient property so that a patient can lie thereon comfortably.

The lifting means consists of a driving motor 69, at least one screw rod 71 which is rotated by said driving motor 69 through a reduction gear 70, a nut 72 which is engaged to each screw rod 71 and a connecting rod 73 one end of which is connected to said nut 72 and the other end of which is connected to the center of the bed body 13.

The driving motor 69 is mounted at the rear portion of the base 12 so that the axis of rotation thereof is directed horizontal yet transverse to said base 12 and has sufficient output enough to lift the bed body 13 at a desired speed.

The screw rod 71 is mounted on the base 13 by bearings 74, 75 at the ends thereof, respectively, in the longitudinal direction thereto and to the rear end of each screw rod 71 is fixed a sprocket 76. A single screw rod is sometimes provided at the center of the base 12. Preferably, however, two more screw rods may be provided and the separation between adjacent screw rods should be made as large as possible so that the bed body 13 can be inclined under stable condition. In the case where more than two screw rods 71 are provided, the pitch of the thread of each screw rod 71 is made equal, each screw rod is made completely parallel to the base 12 and the screw rods 71 are made to rotate linked to one another and at the same rate of rotation. For this purpose, the sprockets 76 which are fixed to the rear end of the screw rods 71 are designed so that they may have the same number of teeth and sprocket 77 which are fixed to the output shaft of the reduction gear are designed so that they may have the same number of teeth. The bed body 13 is preferably inclined stably without rolling. However, if only one screw rod 71 is provided and the connecting rod 73 is forced by a single nut which is engaged to said screw rod, the load on the bed body 13 which varies with the movement of a patient on said bed body 13 tends to roll the bed body 13 and make it unstable. sprockets FIG. shows a lifting mechanism, a base 12 and a frame 22 of a bed body 13. The length of the screw rod 71 is designed so that said screw rod can make the bed body 13 inclined to a desired angle. The sprocket 76 which is fixed to the rear end of each screw rod 71 is connected to the sprocket 77 of the outpus shaft of the reduction gear 70 through a chain 78. The reduction gear 70 is rotated by the driving motor 69 to have a desired torque with the rate of rotation of said driving motor 69 reduced.

The nut 72 has a female screw, the lead of which is identical to that of the male screw formed on the surface of the screw rod 71. The height or length of the nut 72 is made so that it has sufficient mechanical strength to lift the bed body safely. For this purpose, the length of the nut 72 is preferably about cm. The nut 72 is also preferably made of a wear-resistant material such as brass. A nut made of, however, high wear-resistant material is subject to abrasion by long use thereof. Accordingly, the nut 72 is preferably made of a doubleconstruction including an inside nut body 79 and a nut holding member 80, the nut body 79 being secured removably by a fastening screw 81 to the inside of the nut holding member 80. To have the nut thus designed, the nut body 79 can be easily replaced with a new one when it is worn away by long use thereof. The nut 72 to which the lower end of the connecting rod 73 is connected for free rotation urges said connecting rod 73 in a desired direction. The force produced when the nut 72 urges the connecting rod 73 is not only in the parallel direction to the axis of the screw rod 71 but to the direction at right angle to the axis or downward of said screw rod 71. By the downward force given at the right angle to the axis of said screw rod 71, the screw rod tends to be bent downwardly. In order to avoid this, a roller 82 is provided rotatively at the outside of the nut 72 and said roller 82 rolls on a rail 84 which is provided on a side frame 83 of the base 12. With the provision of the roller 82, the force acted downward to the screw rod 71 can be prevented since the force acts on the roller 82 and the rail 84.

In the case where a single screw rod 71 is mounted on the base 12, a connecting rod 73 is connected at both ends of the nut 72 engaged to the screw rod 71 so as to balance the force applied to the right and left ends of said nut 72 and so that the nut 72 is not subject to a rotational force in the horizontal plane. Even when a plurality of screw rods 71 are provided and also a plurality of nuts 72 which are engaged to said screw rods 71 are provided, only two connecting rods 73 are applied for the purpose of single construction. In this construction, a connecting rod 73 is connected only to the one side of the nut 72, therefore, a turning moment acts in the horizontal plane of the nut 72. In order to avoid this, each nut 72 is preferably connected to one another. When each nut is completely linked together without play, the interval between two nuts 72 becomes constant. On the other hand, it is very difficult to have several screw rods 71 mounted on the base 12 completely parallel to one another, therefore the interval between two of said screw rods 71 is liable to fluctuate slightly depending on the part. When nuts 72 having constant interval are positioned on screw rods 71 the interval of which slightly fluctuates, unreasonable force is applied to a nut 72 thereby causing conspicuously early abrasion of the screw rod 71. It is further very difficult to make the lead of each screw rod 71 uniform when each screw rod 71 is mounted on the base completely parallel to one another. Therefore, even if each screw rod 71 rotates simultaneously, the distance between centers of each nut 72 may vary slightly whereby an unreasonable force tends to be applied to each nut 72. Besides, it is extremely difficult to rotate each of screw rods 71 simultaneously since each chain has certain play even though each screw rod 71 is rotated simultaneously through sprockets 76, 77 and a chain 78. The play of the chain causes more or less irregular rotation of the screw rods 71. By these reasons, the distance between two of the nuts 72 unavoidably varies.

ln order to solve these problems, it is desirable that each nut may be connected to the screw rod 71 so that said nut cannot be axially displaced relative to said screw rod though the distance of each nut 72 may vary. Accordingly, the inclinable bed in this invention is constructed in such a manner, as shown in FIG. 6, that a connection pipe 85 is secured to one side of each nut, two of the sides facing with each other. lnto said connection pipes 85 a connection bar 86 is inserted, the outer diameter of which is a little smaller than the inner diameter of the connection pipe 85, in order to connect each nut 72. The total length of the connection pipes 85 secured to each nut 72 is made a little smaller than the distance between two of the nuts 72. The distance between two of the nuts 72 varies when the connection pipes 85 slide on the connection bar along the outer surface thereof.

The same effect as above described can be obtained, however, when, contrary to the aforementioned embodiment, a connection bar 86 is secured to each nut 72 and connection pipes 85 are connected to said connection bar 86.

As aforementioned, the thread of the nut 72 is unavoidably worn away during long use. Further, it is difficult to observe how far the thread is worn from outside thereof. Besides, if the thread of the nut 72 is com pletely worn away, the bed body 13 which is extremely heavy tends to fall down, which is very dangerous. To avoid such a danger, it is required to construct the bed body 13 not to fall down however abrased the nut 72 may be. The inventor of the present invention, having attempted various experiments in order to eliminate the above described defects, found a bed construction working extremely advantageously, in which a safety nut 88 is connected to the nut 72 through a connection arm 87.

The connection arm 87 is fixed to the front end of the nut horizontally and at the front part of said arm is provided a slit 89 horizontally in a desired length. The safety nut per se has a mechanical strength sufficient to lift the bed body 13 and has at one side thereof a protrusion 90 which is slidable in the slit 89 of the connection arm 87. The safety nut 88 is spaced apart from the nut 72 by such a distance that the protrusion 90 is placed at about the center of the slit 89 of the connection arm 87 and said nut 88 is engaged to the screw rod 71. When the thread of the nut 72 is not worn, the safety nut 88 moves following the nut 72. In other words, the safety nut 88 is connected to the nut 72 so as not to rotate toward the nut 72 by means of the connection arm 87 and the protrusion 90. Therefore when the screw rod 71 rotates, the safety nut 88 moves the same distance as that of the nut 72. The protrusion 90 of the safety nut 88 is placed at about the center of the slit 89 of the desired length and said protrusion is can be free to move in the horizontal direction in the slit 89, so that when the nut 72 moves along the thread of the screw rod 71, the distance between the nut 72 and the safety nut 88 is not changed; thereby no force is applied to said safety nut 88. When the thread of the nut 72 is worn away and the nut 72 begins to move independently of the rotation of the screw rod 71, the nut 72 is pushed forward by the load of the body 13, whereby the nut 72 is brought into contact with the safety nut 88 at the front surface thereof or it moves forward until the protrusion 90 of the safety nut 88 is brought into contact with the rear end of the slit 89. At this stage, the safety nut 88 supports the force of the load of the bed body 13. Once the thread of the nut 72 is worn away, the safety nut 88 serves as a nut, therefore, there is no possibility that the bed body 13 falls down. Further, if the nut 72 is worn away, the distance between the nut 72 and the safety nut 88 changes, which can be observed easily from outside. It is essential to provide the safety nut 88 forward of the nut 72 since if the safety nut 88 is provided at the rear side of the nut 72, the protrusion 90 of the safety nut 88 and the connection arm 87 will pull the worn nut 72 to prevent it from moving forward. This results in a strong force being applied to the protrusion 90 and the connection arm 87. If the safety nut 88 is provided forward of the nut 72, however, the nut 72 is prevented from moving forward even if the arm 87 an the protrusion should be damaged.

The connecting rod 73 is rotatively connected at the lower end thereof to the nut 72 and at the upper end thereof to about the center of the frame E of the bed body 13. The connecting rod 73 has a mechanical strength sufficient to lift the bed body 13, the length of which is determined so that the bed body 13 can go down horizontally when the nut 72 moves to the forward end of the rod. It is desirable that the connecting rod 73 lift the bed body 13 without rolling thereof. Fot this purpose, one connecting rod 73 is preferably provided to each side of the bed body 13. The lower end of the connecting rod 73 is, as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, connected for free rotation between the nut 72 and the roller 82.

The operation and the manner of use of the inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care having the aforementioned construction will be explained hereinafter.

When a bed-lifting switch 94 provided on the surface of the bed body 13 for controlling the driving motor is pushed, the driving motor 69 rotates forward, whereupon the screw rods 71 rotate in a right hand direction. When the screw rods 71 rotate in this manner, the nut 72 moves rearward thereby lifting the bed body 13 to a desired angle by the connecting rod 73.

When the bed body 13 is lifted to the desired angle, a stopper 91 fixed to the rear end of the nut 72 pushes a plunger of a limit switch 93 fixed to a side frame 92 of the base 12 for controlling the lifting angle and stops the electric current of the driving motor 69 which is thus connected to the limit switch in a series.

When it is desired to have the bed body lowered, a bed-lowering switch 95 is pushed and the driving motor 69 rotates at in a left hand direction, whereupon the nut 72 is moved forward. After the bed body 13 is lowered horizontally, a plunger of a limit switch 96, fixed to the base 12 at the lower portion of the frame of the bed body 13, for controlling the downward movement is pushed, whereupon the rotation of the driving motor 69 is stopped. The bed body 13 is stopped at the desired angle automatically by the limit switches 93, 96. However, in order to stop the bed body at any particular angle in the range of the operation of the limit switches 93, 96, a stop switch 97 is pushed.

Main manners of use of the inclinable bed 11 adapted for use to medical care are described hereinafter.

A first manner of use is, as shown in FIG. 7, the operation of the foot-moving means 15. A patient is had in the longitudinal direction to the bed on the transversely moving plate 16 with his feet laid on the foot support 40. His feet are thereupon vibrated horizontally in the transverse direction. In this case, if desired, the whole of a patients body may be vibrated horizontally in the transverse direction by the operation of the transversely moving plate 16.

A second manner of use is, as shown in FIG. 8, that a rope is fastened to each sides of the T-shaped traction rod 21, to which rope is tied a pulling belt to wind around the neck of a patient laid on the transversely moving plate 16. The operation of the transversely moving plate 16 vibrates the patient in the transverse direction while said pulling belt pulls the patient under the condition in which the bed body 13 is lifted or after the bed body is lifted to a desired angle.

A third manner of use is, as shown in FIG. 9, that a rope is fastened to each end of the T-shaped longitudinally moving rod 20, to the top end of which rope are tied foot belts and approximately one meter apart from the top end of which rope are fastened hand belts. The patient is laid on the transversely moving plate 16 with his head placed at the rear portion thereof and said hand belts and said foot belts are wound aroung the patients hands and feet respectively which are stretched upright. When the bed body is inclined about degrees, the hands and the feet wound with said belts are vibrated back and forth by the Tshaped longitudinally moving rod 20.

A fourth manner of use is, as shown in H6. 10, that two ropes are fastened to each end of the T-shaped longitudinally moving rod and a pair of right and left ropes are tied to each end of two pulling belts, with one of said pulling belts wound around the patient's neck, who sits upright on the transversely moving plate 16 facing the longitudinally moving rod 20. The other of said pulling belts is wound around the waist of the pa tient. The T-shaped longitudinal moving rod 20 gives tortional vibration to the neck and waist of the patient. In this case, the bed body 13 is made horizontal.

A fifth manner of use is, as shown in FIG. 11, that while the patient is horizontally laid on the transversely moving plate 16, with his head placed at the rear portion thereof, transversely directed vibration is given to the leg of the patient when his calf is mounted on the foot rests 32.

The inclinable bed 11 adapted for use to medical care in the present invention is formed so that the screw rod 71 provided to the base 12 is rotated and the nut 72 which is engaged to said screw rod 71 is moved back and forth, thereby moving the bed body 13 up and down by the connecting rod 73 which is connected to said nut 72. With the construction of the aforementioned bed of this invention, the inclination of the bed body 13 can be stopped by stopping the rotation of the screw rod 71, since the nut 72 can be moved back and forth by rotating the screw rod 71, but the nut 72 cannot rotate the screw rod 71 even if a large force is applied to said nut 72. In other words, energy transfer from the screw rod 71 to the nut 72 is possible, whereas energy transfer from the nut 72 to the screw rod 71 is impossible. Consequently, the inclination of the bed body 13 can be stopped completely by controlling the driving motor 69 which rotates the screw rod. Therefore, no stopper device is required at all for inclination of the bed body 13 which normally involves many problems concerning safety. With the elimination of the stopper device, the bed adapted for use to medical care of this invention has high safety properties. Especially when the safety nut 88 is connected to the nut 72, the possibility that the bed body 13 might fall down is prevented by said safety nut 88 even if the nut 72 is worn away, ensuring safety of the occupant. Further, the inclinable bed for medical care in this invention has such an advantage that the bed body 13 does not cause rolling and the like at all on inclination of the bed body 13 and so the bed body becomes extremely stable since the connecting rod 73, the screw rod 71 and the nut 72 which lift the bed body are safe rigid elements which do not to deform or extend even if force is applied. Another advantage of the inclinable bed 11 in this invention is that it is of a simple construction, light and has a lifting mechanism which can be manufactured at low cost. Still a further advantage of the inclinable bed 11 in the invention is that the bed is very small in the total size and does not require a large installation area owing to the construction of the bed in which the lifting mechanism can be completely housed in the bed body 13 and the base 12. Consequently, the bed of this invention can be installed in a narrow place like an ordinary home. In addition, the height of the bed can be particularly made low so that a patient get on or off the bed easily and safely. Still a further advantage of the inclinable bed H in this invention is that the bed can also be employed as a sleeping bed by laying a blanket and the like on the transversely moving plate 16.

Many modifications of the above described embodiments of this invention can be made within the scope of claims and the above described examples are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

What is claimed is:

1. An inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care, comprising: a base; a bed body laid over said base, the rear end thereof being pivotally connected thereto and having a hanging means; a foot-moving means and a transversely moving plate on the upper surface of said bed body; a lifting mechanism having screw rods supported by bearings fixed to said base in the longitudinal direction thereto; a motor mounted on said base to rotate said screw rods through a power transmitting device; nuts engaged to said screw rods and divided respectively into a replaceable nut body and a nut holding means so that said nut body can be removably secured in the inside of said nut holding means; and a plurality of connecting rods, one end of each of which is connected through a bearing to said nuts so that said connecting rods can rotate in a plane vertical to said nuts and the other end of each of which is connected by a bearing to said bed body, wherein the bed body is lifted when said screw rods are rotated in a right hand direction by said driving motor to move said nuts rearward and is lowered when said screw rods are rotated reversely to move said nuts forward.

2. An inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care as claimed in claim 1, in which more than two of said screw rods having the same lead are supported by bearings fixed to said base so that each of said screw rods may be parallel to one another.

3. An inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care as claimed in claim 2, in which the nuts engaged to each of a plurality of said screw rods are connected to one another through a rod.

4. An inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care as claimed in claim 3, in which the distance between each pair of nuts can be varied.

5. An inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care as claimed in claim 1, in which rollers are provided to said nuts through bearings so that said rollers can roll over a rail provided at a side frame of said base.

6. An inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care as claimed in claim I, in which said connecting rods are connected to the sides of the bed body.

7. An inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care comprising a base; a bed body laid over said base, the rear end thereof being pivotally connected thereto and having a hanging means; a foot-moving means and a transversely moving plate on the upper surface of said bed body; a lifting mechanism having screw rods supported by bearings fixed to said base in the longitudinal direction thereto; a motor mounted on said base to ronected by a bearing to said bed body, wherein the bed tate said screw rods through a power transmitting debody is lifted when said screw rods are rotated in a right vice; nuts engaged to said screw rods, safety nuts which hand direction by said driving motor to move said nuts move following to said nuts and are connected to said rearward and is lowered when said screw rods are ronuts so as to have play in the axial direction thereof; 5 tated reversely to move said nuts forward. and a plurality of connecting rods, one end of each of 8. An inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care which is connected through a bearing to said nuts so as claimed in claim 7, in which said safety nuts are that said connecting rods can rotate in a plane vertical placed forwardly of said nuts. to said nuts and the other end of each of which is con- 

1. An inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care, comprising: a base; a bed body laid over said base, the rear end thereof being pivotally connected thereto and having a hanging means; a foot-moving means and a transversely moving plate on the upper surface of said bed body; a lifting mechanism having screw rods supported by bearings fixed to said base in the longitudinal direction thereto; a motor mounted on said base to rotate said screw rods through a power transmitting device; nuts engaged to said screw rods and divided respectively into a replaceable nut body and a nut holding means so that said nut body can be removably secured in the inside of said nut holding means; and a plurality of connecting rods, one end of each of which is connected through a bearing to said nuts so that said connecting rods can rotate in a plane vertical to said nuts and the other end of each of which is connected by a bearing to said bed body, wherein the bed body is lifted when said screw rods are rotated in a right hand direction by said driving motor to move said nuts rearward and is lowered when said screw rods are rotated reversely to move said nuts forward.
 2. An inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care as claimed in claim 1, in which more than two of said screw rods having the same lead are supported by bearings fixed to said base so that each of said screw rods may be parallel to one another.
 3. An inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care as claimed in claim 2, in which the nuts engaged to each of a plurality of said screw rods are connected to one another through a rod.
 4. An inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care as claimed in claim 3, in which the distance between each pair of nuts can be varied.
 5. An inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care as claimed in claim 1, in which rollers are provided to said nuts through bearings so that said rollers can roll over a rail provided at a side frame of said base.
 6. An inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care as claimed in claim 1, in which said connecting rods are connected to the sides of the bed body.
 7. An inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care comprising a base; a bed body laid over said base, the rear end thereof being pivotally Connected thereto and having a hanging means; a foot-moving means and a transversely moving plate on the upper surface of said bed body; a lifting mechanism having screw rods supported by bearings fixed to said base in the longitudinal direction thereto; a motor mounted on said base to rotate said screw rods through a power transmitting device; nuts engaged to said screw rods, safety nuts which move following to said nuts and are connected to said nuts so as to have play in the axial direction thereof; and a plurality of connecting rods, one end of each of which is connected through a bearing to said nuts so that said connecting rods can rotate in a plane vertical to said nuts and the other end of each of which is connected by a bearing to said bed body, wherein the bed body is lifted when said screw rods are rotated in a right hand direction by said driving motor to move said nuts rearward and is lowered when said screw rods are rotated reversely to move said nuts forward.
 8. An inclinable bed adapted for use to medical care as claimed in claim 7, in which said safety nuts are placed forwardly of said nuts. 